A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm-Chapter 1356: Prestigious Gathering

"Fellow Daoist Zhu Yan is right. It's clear from their aura fluctuations that they're not going to be easy to deal with. On top of that, all of us are Dao Ancestors bound by the restrictions of the Heavenly Dao, so it's simply not worth it for us to go all-out in a battle here," Dong Lihu said.

"Gu Huojin personally issued this order, so we can't just blatantly ignore it," Meng Yuan said in a hesitant manner.

"If you insist on doing something, then why don't you go in and engage them in battle first? We'll be sure to assist you using the power of the array," Zhu Yan suggested with a smile.

Meng Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly in fury upon hearing this.

"That's enough. All we have to do is ensure that they can't travel to the Heavenly Court, there's no need for us to go above and beyond. Once the Bodhi Banquet is over, Gu Huojin can deal with them himself," Zi Shan interjected in an authoritative manner.

It was clear that she was the leader of the group, and her verdict was final.

Meng Yuan heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this. Of course he didn't actually want to go up against Han Li, he had only protested against the others so he would appear in a better light.

After all, it was the others who had refused to fight, while he had been eager to follow Gu Huojin's orders, on the surface, at least.

"How unfortunate that we're stuck here while the Bodhi Banquet is being held. Looks like we won't get to taste the Bodhi Dao Fruit," Zhu Yan sighed in a disappointed manner.

This was a sobering thought for her companions as well, and it only served to further fuel their resentment toward Han Li and Jin Tong.

......

Middle Earth Immortal Region.

A mighty fleet of giant spirit boats had been assembled on the sea outside the Southern Gaze Continent's Heaven Answer Gate, and all of them were carrying large flags with the words "Reincarnation Palace" emblazoned upon them.

There were countless people on the spirit boats and hovering in the air above the sea, most of whom were wearing Reincarnation Palace attire complete with Reincarnation Palace masks of different colors.

There was a row of seven or eight figures standing side by side on the spirit boat at the forefront of the fleet, six of whom were wearing black masks, while the remaining two stood with their faces uncovered.

One of the two was a muscular young man with a head of short, silver hair. There was a black cloth over his face that concealed only his mouth and nose, and his exposed eyes were flashing with fierce killing intent.

There were also two green sabers strapped to his back, neither of which had a scabbard. The sabers were a crystalline, green color, and there was faint, green mist constantly emanating from within, as if they were breathing like a pair of living beings.

Standing beside him was none other than Wu Yang, whose brows were tightly furrowed as he asked, "Tan Lang, the palace master has already entered the Heavenly Court, right?"

"He's already gone through the eastern heavenly gate, and the Bodhi Banquet is set to commence in a few hours," the silver-haired young man replied.

"How are things going on Yan Zhuo and Xuan Yu's end?" Wu Yang asked, and it was clear that he was feeling a little uneasy.

"Lighten up a bit, they're the ones who should be nervous," Tan Lang said as he pointed a finger at the vast Heaven Answer Gate in the distance.

Wu Yang cast his gaze toward the direction that he was pointing in to discover a series of giant pillars of light of different colors rising up from the ground behind the Heaven Answer Gate, giving off bursts of formidable spatial fluctuations.

That was where the major teleportation arrays connecting the Southern Gaze Continent to other immortal regions were situated, and at the moment, there were many powerful figures from all over the True Immortal Realm arriving through the arrays, with no lack of Dao Ancestors and Great Encompassment cultivators among them.

"My Cold Jade Sabers are thirsting for their blood," Tan Lang cackled.

Beneath the black cloth over his face was a horrific scar that ran from the bottom of his ear to his mouth.

......

In addition to the eastern and southern heavenly gates, a mighty Reincarnation Palace army had been assembled outside the western heavenly gate as well, and it had already been locked in a confrontation against the Heavenly Court's forces for quite some time.

Both sides had made some provocative gestures, but no battle had broken out thus far.

Meanwhile, the northern heavenly gate was welcoming the most guests out of the four heavenly gates, with cultivators from all immortal regions constantly streaming in through the various teleportation arrays.

All nine continents in the Middle Earth Immortal Region were joyously celebrating the imminent commencement of the Bodhi Banquet, and even though some of the sects in the Middle Earth Immortal Region didn't have the privilege of attending the Bodhi Banquet, they were also taking advantage of this opportunity to hold celebratory events of their own.

All of the major trading houses were also making full use of this opportunity to hold all types of auctions and exchange events, attracting countless eager cultivators.

However, compared with the main event that was the Bodhi Banquet, these events were made to appear all too insignificant. At the moment, all of the most powerful and prestigious figures across the entire True Immortal Realm were gathered in the banquet venues across the nine continents of the immortal region.

The central region of the Heavenly Palace Continent was an enormous basin, which was home to many of the important offices of the Heavenly Court. The main venue for this edition fo the Bodhi Banquet was nestled high up in the clouds directly above this area.

Regardless of from which angle one looked up at the clouds above the basin, they would only be able to see a vast expanse of rainbow light, and if they were lucky, they would even be greeted by the sight of all types of stunning apparitions, such as soaring pegasi and dancing celestial maidens.

In reality, there was an enormous floating island that was hundreds of thousands of kilometers in area above this sea of clouds. This place was known as the Jade Pond Paradise, and it was the long-term residence of Gu Huojin.

The Jade Pond Paradise was surrounded by a ring-shaped mountain range that was filled with a vast abundance of spiritual qi, and numerous waterfalls could be seen flowing down from the mountain cliffs, presenting a stunning sight to behold.

Herds of nine-colored divine deer were sipping from the pools at the feet of the waterfalls, looking relaxed and content.

Occasionally, the cry of an ape would ring out from the nearby forest, and fleeting glimpses of immortal apes swinging from tree to tree could be caught from time to time.

High up in the sky above the forest, flocks of immortal cranes were soaring through the heavens in a leisurely manner, and their calls resembled beautiful immortal melodies.

Even higher up in the sky, countless streaks of light were converging toward the center of the Jade Lake Paradies, containing various types of carriages, spirit beast steeds, and immortals dressed in opulent clothing.

The closer one drew to the center of the Jade Pond Paradise, the more abundant the world's origin qi became, to the point that all of the due on the immortal plants and spirit trees in the forests were manifested from pure spiritual qi.

Every morning and night, a large number of celestial maidens would be sent out to collect this dew to be used to brew the most delectable wines and elixirs.

In the central area of the Jade Pond Paradise was a clear lake that was dozens of kilometers in radius. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, and it was named Pure Clear Lake.

Behind Pure Clear Lake was an old locust tree that very few people could confidently state the exact age of. It stood at over ten thousand feet tall, and its canopy was so vast that it encompassed close to half of the entire lake below.

At the foot of the old locust tree was a two-story pavilion that was no more than thirty feet tall, and it was where Gu Huojin cultivated.

A giant, semicircular plaza had also been constructed outside of Pure Clear Lake, and the plaza resembled a fully unfurled folding fan.

It had been entirely constructed from white spirit jade, and it was riddled with channels that were around two feet wide to draw in the water of Pure Clear Lake, dividing the entire plaza into a series of rectangular sections.

There were tens of thousands of purple jade tables placed in these rectangular areas, all of which were laden with all types of fresh spirit fruits and vegetables for the guests of the Bodhi Banquet to enjoy.

There were also slightly raised platforms situated at intervals of several thousand feet, upon which stunning celestial maidens in palace dresses danced to beautiful music.

At the center of the plaza were seven purple jade tables, all of which were currently vacant.

Not far away from this row of seven tables was a collection of close to a hundred seats, several dozens of which had already been filled.

All of these people possessed unfathomably powerful auras, and they were all patriarchs of sects that were vastly renowned across the entire True Immortal Region.

Some of them had already become legends that had already been forgotten by all but the oldest generations of cultivators under the heavens, and most of them were seated with their eyes closed in meditation.

In contrast, the young disciples standing behind them were all looking around in intrigue and curiosity, but given that they were all from major sects, they remained quite restrained and observant of proper etiquette.

However, there were also some exceptions to this norm. For example, there was a white-haired elderly woman seated at a table slightly to the right of the center of the collection of tables, and his body was swaying back and forth like tall grass in a light breeze. It seemed that she had fallen asleep, yet somehow managed to catch herself every time right before she swayed beyond the point of no return.

Seated behind her was a beautiful, white-robed woman who was also swaying back and forth in the same sleepy manner, and right at this moment, numerous tiny arcs of purple lightning suddenly appeared over her body, preparing to erupt in all directions.

Right at this moment, the white-haired elderly woman snapped wide awake, then swiveled around before pressing a hand against her disciple's forehead.

The arcs of lightning flashing over her body instantly faded, and she woke up in a dazed manner.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

"Menghan, I've already told you this many times before. You can cultivate the Five Lightning True Mantra, but you can't simultaneously cultivate both my Fantastical Dream Mantra and the Five Lightning True Mantra at once. Otherwise, you could easily hurt yourself," the elderly woman said in an earnest and heartfelt manner.

The white-robed woman was none other than Yu Menghan.

After parting ways with Han Li back in Nine Origins City, she caught the eye of the matriarch of the Dream Cloud Sect, who took Yu Menghan under her wing as her final disciple.